Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch State College, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 22, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8.25 hours
Official Counter: AB
Observers: NB
Visitors: Angelina Minardi and Justin Nichol came up in the afternoon to see if any raptors were migrating. We got to see our local BE’s, RTHA and TUVU’s. Justin works with Jon Kauffman on checking AK nest boxes. I also had some nice visits with hikers and a few students from the university.
Justin Nichol Angelina Minardi
19 hikers 1 runner
Weather: Light SE winds at 6-11kph until 11:00. After 11:00 the winds slowly shifted to the NW and this is when the flight came to a halt. Visibility was mostly good except during a few brief rain squalls. Mostly cloudy skies for the entire survey which made for good spotting conditions. Low temperature of 5C at 08:45 and a high of 11C at 11:00.
Raptor Observations: TV 1 (146) BE 1 (53) SS 1 (42) RS 1 (35) GE 1 (133) UR 2 (9) Total 7 (637)
GE Sub 11:15
A migrating sharpie was the first raptor of the day right in the cut just below the OP at 10:30. The only GE of the day was spotted very low on Leading Ridge. I would imagine many of these low GE’s would go undetected if you stood at the normal OP. This eagle was working hard to gain altitude, but never came up to the ridge. Instead, it just used a combination of soaring and powered flight to move north over Stone Valley. Once the winds started to shift slowly to the NW the flight came to an abrupt halt.
A resident adult BE was spotted flying S along the ridgetop at 11:10. The leading ridge RTHA was spotted occasionally on its territory. A possible second RTHA was briefly detected a couple times late in the afternoon soaring to the N along the cut.
Non-raptor Observations: First COLO of the season, but not migrating. It was spotted in Stone Valley between Warrior’s Ridge and Leading Ridge flying south.
Canada Goose 80 Mourning Dove 6 Common Loon 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 3 Black-capped Chickadee 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 American Pipit 1 American Goldfinch 2 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 8
Predictions: Increasing clouds, with a high near 49. Calm wind ======================================================================== Report submitted by Adam Richardson (<poecile.gambeli...>) Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch information may be found at: tusseymountainspringhawkwatch.org/
